Finding Her Voice for Christmas Brings Ceola J. Griffin's Faith-Based Family Drama From Stage to Screen
Award-nominated playwright joins acclaimed filmmaker Rick Irvin, co-director Don "Dusty" Phelps, and platinum-credited songwriter DreLovesGod for holiday feature filming in Monterey
MONTEREY, Calif. — Ceola J. Griffin, a 2024 Gospel Choice Music Awards nominee for Best Playwright of the Year, has announced the feature-film adaptation of her stage play Finding Her Voice. The faith-based holiday drama, titled Finding Her Voice for Christmas, explores family secrets, identity, forgiveness, reconciliation, and the courage to speak truth.
Principal photography is scheduled for November and December 2026 in Monterey and surrounding communities, with a multi-platform release anticipated during the 2027 holiday season.
"Watching this story grow from the stage to Broadway On Demand and now toward a full-length feature film has been an extraordinary journey. At its heart, this is a story about what can happen when truth, faith, forgiveness, and love are finally given room to enter a family's most painful places." — Ceola J. Griffin, Writer, Co-Director & Co-Producer
The Story
Seventeen-year-old Joy Jones has a God-given gift and believes she has been called to pursue it. When she is met with unexplained resistance, Joy begins asking questions that no one appears willing to answer.
Her search leads toward a family secret that has remained hidden for 15 years — one with the power to affect her parents' marriage, her family's faith, and Joy's understanding of her own identity.
As the Jones family gathers for Christmas, Joy must find the courage and faith to speak. Her journey becomes one of tested faith, painful truth, forgiveness, restoration, and discovering how to use the voice God gave her.
Adapted from Griffin's stage production Finding Her Voice, which was previously featured on Broadway On Demand, the film expands the original story for the screen while preserving its central themes of faith, family, identity, and reconciliation.
The Creative Team
Griffin is joined by acclaimed filmmaker and Monterey native Rick Irvin, who will serve as co-director and co-producer and will appear in one of the film's lead roles.
Irvin is an actor, director, and award-winning producer whose credits include Intersection, an independent feature that received 77 film-festival awards, and the award-winning faith-based feature Heavenly Deposit, which he produced, co-directed, and appeared in. Heavenly Deposit won Best Narrative Feature Film at Jesus Cine Fest and Most Inspirational Feature Film at the Hollywood Divine International Film Festival.
"I've always wanted to make a film at home, with and around the people I grew up with." — Rick Irvin, Co-Director & Co-Producer
Don "Dusty" Phelps will also serve as co-director and appear in the film. A longtime artistic collaborator, Phelps first performed in Griffin's inaugural 2017 stage production and has served as her co-director since 2018.
The original score will be created by platinum-credited songwriter, composer, and music producer DreLovesGod, also known as Demone "Deandre" L. Griffin. He is a co-writer of Deborah Cox's platinum single "It's Over Now," featured on her platinum-certified album One Wish.
DreLovesGod has composed more than 50 songs and 10 albums for Griffin's stage productions since 2018. For Finding Her Voice for Christmas, he will create an original score designed to make music an integral part of the film's emotional and generational storytelling.
Filming in Monterey
The Monterey Peninsula will provide the setting for the film's Christmas story, with production planned throughout Monterey and surrounding communities.
The production will also connect with the region through the Dream2b Youth Film Mentorship Initiative, which is being developed to provide approximately 10 Monterey-area youth with virtual instruction, creative mentorship, and supervised exposure to the filmmaking process. The initiative is being organized separately through Dream2b, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Griffin. Learn more at www.dream2b.org.
Supporting the Film
Finding Her Voice for Christmas is seeking community, corporate, faith-based, and industry partners. Opportunities include production sponsorships, in-kind support, locations, lodging, transportation, meals, wardrobe, equipment, products, and promotional partnerships. To learn more or support the production, visit www.ceolajgriffinfilms.com.
About Ceola J. Griffin
Ceola J. Griffin is a two-time published author, playwright, filmmaker, director, producer, magazine publisher, podcast host, entrepreneur, and women's empowerment advocate. She is the writer and producer of six stage plays and was nominated for Best Playwright of the Year at the 2024 Gospel Choice Music Awards.
Griffin's creative work is informed by her personal journey through trauma, domestic violence, interrupted education, loss, faith, and perseverance. Writing became a pathway through which she discovered her own voice and developed the signature message, "Your Past Does Not Destroy Your Destiny." She is the founder of CJG Productions, LLC, Ceola J. Griffin Films, Inc., Dream2b, and The Ceola J. Collective.
About Ceola J. Griffin Films
Ceola J. Griffin Films is an independent production company creating emotionally resonant film and television stories centered on faith, family, and social impact. For more information, visit www.ceolajgriffinfilms.com.
Media Contact
Ceola J. Griffin
Writer, Co-Director and Co-Producer
Ceola J. Griffin Films
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